A Tattered Photo
by PentagonMerlin
Summary: Have you ever carried around a photo of someone so much it looks like it's been through a hurricane? Only when you love someone. (Weirguy who's name isn't mentioned.)


_A/N: So I really don't get all this Shepard/Weir stuff, and my last story was about Shepard, so this one is about Weir. Thank you to Serefina who reminded me about the guy in the first episode, although I can't find his name anywhere. If you find it let me know. Anyway, this is a one-shot that I hope you find kinda cute. It just looks into the past, so nothing new, no real spoilers other then the first episode. Please R &R, as well as enjoy.  
-Pentagon Merlin_

* * *

**A Tattered Photo**

**Pentagon Merlin**

She had met him during a treaty between one of the many countries in Africa and a rebel group. It was a standard treaty: the rebel group wanted to take over, the government didn't want them to. The United States Government, playing their usual "big brother" role, had sent her, as well as several other negotiators in.

They noticed each other right away, sitting across the table, both from America. After several days, he approached her, during one of the breaks from the boring negotiations. Sitting there, in the middle of a third world country, they talked.

He was from Washington D.C. His father had been a politician, a senator from Colorado, and his entire life he knew he wanted to do the same thing. While in college studying foreign relations he got a once in a lifetime offer: to go to Vietnam and attempt to negotiate for the freedom of many POW's. After that taste, he changed his dream from being a senator to a negotiator.

She, on the other hand, had wanted to be a chef. Her grandmother had started to teach her how to cook when she was 4, with cookies, and she loved it. It wasn't until she was 17, applying to colleges, that she met her aunt's sister. She was a negotiator for the UN, and after having a long chat about Kathleen's job, she stopped applying to arts schools and started applying to schools that specialized in foreign relations. After working for random politicians for a while, she got a break, working as Kathleen's assistant. From there, her career blossomed.

After getting back to D.C. they had dinner a few times, saw a couple of movies, and had coffee more then a hundred times. When her parents died, it was his shoulder she cried on, and after over a year they moved in together.

It was hard, two negotiators living under one roof. They were constantly coming and going, barely getting any time together. It was probably the reason that they never did tie the knot. To get married would assume that children would be coming, and even though she really did want kids, she was getting up there in years, they both were, and it wouldn't be fair to bring anyone into a world where you never knew when your parents were going to be around.

Then President Hayes offered her that job at the SGC. It was hard knowing that they weren't the only ones out there and not being able to tell your partner about it. It was something they had had debates on many times in the past: he thought there were aliens and she didn't. Surprise, surprise, he was right. She was gone for almost two months running the world's biggest secret. During that time she said she was down in Chile negotiating the ownership of some ruins. It felt awful lying to him. Then when she went to Antarctica, she at least got to tell him where she was and the basics of what she was doing. She still didn't like not telling him the whole truth.

Their relationship had gotten by for so long by telling each other the truth. Even things that needed to be kept on the D.L, God she was picking things up from her niece, they shared with each other. That way if they were unsure they had another negotiator who could possibly see things more clearly. It was also another reason they survived together so long.

She got two days with him before she left, or at least she thought she did. He was out of town for one of those days, and had to work the other. It was nice just to see him though. Who knew when she would get to again? After having that thought, she asked the President to give him authorization to know about the Stargate. Then she picked up the video camera and started recording the message, telling him where she was going and that she didn't know when she was going to be back.

* * *

Dr. Elizabeth Weir looked at the old crinkled picture she had taken from her wallet. It showed a man and a woman, sitting on a rock in front of Capital Hill, his arm around her. They were smiling. It was one of their first dates and from the look in her eyes in the picture, she knew he was the one even back then. If only she ever got the chance to see him again.

"Dr. Weir, Dr. McKay says there's something you might want to see in the lab," the soldier said, knocking gently on the door.

"I'll be right there," she mumbled, wiping away a tear. She couldn't even have a minute to herself to think about her boyfriend, the one who was millions of light years away.

"Are you alright ma'am?"

"I'll be fine." After all, it was just another day, just another emergency.


End file.
